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A new approach to eldercare

A new approach to eldercare

ALL-INCLUSIVE — StayWell Senior Care will provide a range of services — from medical care, including physical, occupational and speech therapy, to exercise, activities and meals — in a state-of-the-art building at 809 Curry Drive in Asheboro.

ASHEBORO — By summer’s end, a facility that offers an alternative to nursing home placement should be up and running in the city.

Its goal: Keep people healthy, out of the hospital and at home.

StayWell Senior Care will provide a range of services — from medical care, including physical, occupational and speech therapy, to exercise, activities and meals — in a state-of-the-art building at 809 Curry Drive in Asheboro.

To qualify, participants must be 55 or older and eligible for skilled nursing care.

“We will be 100 percent responsible for the care of each of our individuals,” said Tracey Murphy, StayWell’s executive director.

The brand new facility is awaiting approval as a PACE-certified program. PACE, a Medicare-and Medicaid-supported program, is an acronym for Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly. There are currently about 100 PACE programs in the nation and 11 operating (or in the process of opening) in North Carolina, including Greensboro and Burlington.

Randolph Hospital, Cone Health and Hospice of Randolph County partnered to provide startup funding; StayWell has also received grants from the Duke Endowment, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, the Golden Leaf Foundation, the Randolph Hospital Community Health Foundation and the Randolph Hospital Volunteer Fund.

An open house is scheduled from 12:30-2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 18, so area residents can get an up-close look at the nearly 17,000-square-foot facility, meet some of the staff and start thinking about whether a PACE program might benefit their family.

What is PACE?

“All-inclusive” means that PACE program participants will receive most necessary services in one location. When required, they will be transported off-site for additional services, such as to see a specialist.

On weekdays, vans will fan out across the StayWell service area — Randolph and Montgomery counties and part of Moore — to pick up participants and bring them to the facility, which is up the hill from K&W Cafeteria. At day’s end, vans will take them home.

Murphy said estimates are that from 1,700-3,600 households in the service area (with 1,100-2,350 of those households in Randolph) could benefit from the program.

While at StayWell Senior Care, participants will receive their medications and, if necessary, see a doctor in the clinic or get help with bathing.

“They can see the doctor today and nip some small thing in the bud before it becomes a full-blown issue,” Murphy said.

“The idea is to treat things that happen in the early stage of an illness, or the early stage of a chronic illness. We see symptoms early and treat them so you don’t end up in the emergency room.”

Participants will have snacks and lunch. Depending on interest and ability, they will be able to take a turn on an exercise bike or lift weights; put together a puzzle, take part in a group activity, such as bingo; take in fresh air on an enclosed outdoor patio; or just sit in a quiet space.

The StayWell plan

On its first day in operation, Murphy said, the program will have eight or 10 participants. The plan is to add eight participants monthly and build toward the building’s full capacity of 107 in a year to 18 months.

The staff of 45 will include Dr. Patricia Shevlin, who will serve as the medical director and the primary care physician, nurses, certified nursing assistants and others; there will be one CNA on duty for each five participants.

StayWell is seeking approval to serve up to 170-175 participants, but not all of them would come to the facility every day. Some will, as dictated by their needs. Others will come two or three times a week. An in-home aide program will address participants’ needs when they are at home.

Cost will be determined on a case-by-case basis, with income as well as Medicare or Medicaid eligibility factored into the final out-of-pocket monthly fee.

“There is not a specific cost for any one person,” Murphy said.

But whatever that cost is, that monthly fee will be all an individual in the program pays for medical care for the rest of his or her life. All medications, doctor and dentist visits, even hospitalizations will be covered.

“Never have another medical bill ever, through the end of your life,” Murphy said.

Caregivers will be able to go to work with peace of mind during the day — or get respite from 24-hour-a-day care.

Participants will benefit from improved medical care and perhaps from being with others.

The director’s perspective

The first time she saw a PACE-program in operation a few years back, Murphy was a social worker who had been working in assisted living and independent living facilities. She knew immediately that she wanted to be part of a PACE program.

“When I saw that you could provide this level of care and they could go home at night,” she said, “it was very exciting to me.”

Since that initial exposure, she has seen results much closer to home. Her mother-in-law was in frail health and had spent a summer in and out of hospital and rehab when she joined a PACE program in Greensboro.

Now, thanks to regular exercise and physical therapy, her mother-in-law has lost weight and her health has improved. One of the benefits is that she needs to take less insulin for her diabetes. Another noticeable change: At the dinner table each evening, her mother-in-law talks about the day’s activities.

“She has blossomed there,” Murphy said. “She has improved. Her quality of life has improved. She just has a life that she didn’t have before.”